RETRACTED: Bacillus Subtilis DE111 Improves Endothelial Dependent Vascular Dilation in Mice Fed a Western Diet

Abstract

Vascular dysfunction often precedes the development of cardiovascular disease in which data from our lab and others suggest a role of the gut microbiome in the development of this defect. In a pilot study of healthy humans, we observed that the spore‐based probiotic, Bacillus Subtilis DE111(DE111), improved reactive hyperemia index (RHI) scores, indicating improved vascular dilation. To further explore whether DE111 impacts cardiovascular function, the current study examined its efficacy in a diet‐induced obesity model in mice. Male C57/BJ mice were fed a standard diet (SD; n=24) or Western diet (WD; n=24) for 8 weeks to induce vascular dysfunction and were then further divided such that (n=12) half of the animals on each diet received 1billion colony forming units per day (CFU/d) of DE111. Weekly body weight was measured until termination at 6 months of age. WD and WD+DE111 mice exhibited similar increases in body weight (SD: 31.2±2.3 vs WD: 47.4±3.3 and WD+DE111: 45.7±4.0) and impairments in glucose tolerance compared to SD mice (SD: 237.1±68.0 vs WD: 410±26.9 and WD+DE111: 460±116.8, p<0.05). A 28% decrease in vessel dilation was observed with mice on a WD as compared to mice on a SD after addition of the endothelial‐dependent dilator acetylcholine (AUC, 918.3±49.25, p<0.05). However, the addition of DE111 improved endothelial mediated vessel dilation in mice fed a WD+DE111 (AUC, 991.7±47.9, p<0.05). This increase was observed independent of body weight changes and improvement in glucose tolerance. In conclusion, the addition of DE111 increased endothelial‐dependent dilation in mice fed a WD. Further analyses are underway to establish the mechanisms of this gut‐vasculature crosstalk, but our animal and human studies both suggest that the novel probiotic, DE111 may support cardiovascular health.